‘Line of Duty’ promises to answer many of its questions in tonight’s final episode, but one of the series’ biggest mysteries has already been solved - why DS Steve Arnott always wears a three-piece suit.
Dedicated viewers of the hit police drama, whose fourth series concludes tonight, have longtime commented on Steve Arnott’s distinctive garb, always smart, sometimes even over-dressed for the occasion, and now actor Martin Compton has revealed the unlikely inspiration behind his alter ego’s wardrobe choices.
“Before we started the first series a pal of mine who works in a call centre was telling me about someone who worked with him,” Martin told the Evening Standard.
“This guy was a right wee dick and he wore waistcoats to work — who would wear waistcoats to work in a call centre?”
Martin went on to explain the man in question was always popular with the ladies, and there was a theory it was the waistcoat that did it.
So when it came to his ideas for his character Steve Arnott in ‘Line of Duty’, he decided:
‘That’s him - that’s Arnott, the needlessly overdressed guy.”
Despite Steve being, by Martin’s own admission, not always the most likeable character in the show, he has garnered more sympathy this series, following his attack by Balaclava Man, which left him in a wheelchair for the following episodes. Whether Steve will recover from his injuries is just on e of the many questions viewers will hope to have answered tonight.
‘Line of Duty’ concludes tonight at 9pm on BBC One.